ASIA

Tokyo Postpones Space Rocket Program: In a major blow to its budding space program, Japan has postponed by a year its ambitious program to build a rocket capable of carrying commercial satellites because of serious defects in the rocket engine design. The National Space Development Agency announced that it would delay the launch of its H-II rocket by a year to February, 1994, after an engine explosion during a test June 18. The delay will have a ripple effect on other Japanese space programs, including satellites and a mini-shuttle that were to be launched into orbit by the H-II rocket.